Giant Pandas May Be A Source Of A New, Natural Anti-Superbug Antibiotic

Pandas come together for
breeding only once a year, but are otherwise solitary animals in
the wild.Ann Batdorf, Smithsonian's
National Zoo

Giant Pandas may be a rich source of powerful new antibiotic
drugs, scientists have discovered.

Their endangered status and distinctive, cuddly appearance have
turned them into the poster-children of wildlife conservation,
but now there may be a new reason to save the giant panda from
extinction.

Scientists have discovered that the animals, of which there are
around 1,600 in the wild, produce a powerful antibiotic in their
blood stream that kills bacteria and fungi.

They believe the substance could be used to create potent new
treatments against drug-resistant superbugs and other diseases.

The antibiotic is thought to be released by the bear’s immune
system to protect them from infections when they are living in
the wild. Researchers discovered the compound, known as
cathelicidin-AM, after analyzing the panda’s DNA.

Fortunately, scientists will not need to depend upon the animal’s
notoriously unreliable breeding capacity to harvest the new
antibiotic as they have been able to synthesize it artificially
in the lab by decoding the genes to produce a small molecule
known as a peptide.

Dr Xiuwen Yan, who led the research at the Life Sciences College
of Nanjing Agricultural University in China, said: “It showed
potential antimicrobial activities against a wide spectrum of
microorganisms including bacteria and fungi, both standard and
drug-resistant strains.

“Under the pressure of increasing microorganisms with drug
resistance against conventional antibiotics, there is urgent need
to develop new types of antimicrobial agents.

“Gene-encoded antimicrobial peptides play an important role in
innate immunity against noxious microorganisms. They cause much
less drug resistance of microbes than conventional antibiotics.”

Pandas have dwindled considerably as their bamboo forest habitat
in China and south east Asia has been destroyed. Attempts to
increase their numbers have been frustrated by the extreme
difficulty in getting them to breed in captivity.

They are notoriously poor at breeding, even in the wild, as the
females only come into season once a year.

Despite millions of pounds being spent using expensive artificial
breeding techniques, their numbers have increased little, leading
to arguments about whether the money could be put to better use
on other conservation projects.

But many argue that the black and white bears act as a symbol of
the need to save wildlife from extinction and help with
fund-raising for conservation projects.

The discovery that they produce powerful compounds that can be
used to make new drugs will almost certainly strengthen the case
to conserve the endangered creatures.

The Chinese researchers found that the cathelicidin-AM, which is
produced by immune cells in the animal’s blood, was found to kill
bacteria in less than an hour while other well-known antibiotics
took more than six hours.

They hope to develop the substance either as a new drug to tackle
superbugs or as an antiseptic for cleaning surfaces and utensils.
Dr Yan and his colleagues also believe there may be other
potential drugs hidden within the panda genome.

They have also found other powerful antimicrobial compounds in
the mucus produced by snails and in some amphibians.

Dr Yan said: Antimicrobial peptides are important components in
innate immunity – they can provide an effective and fast-acting
defence against harmful microorganisms.

“More than 1,000 antimicrobial peptides have been found from
animals, plants, and microorganisms. Analysis revealed that the
panda cathelicidin had the nearest evolutionary relationship with
dog cathelicidin.”